What You'll Sorely Miss
by Draquia
Summary: The day of the Third Task of the Triwizard Tournament, as seen through Cho's eyes. Her last conversation with Cedric, his final gift to her, and how she watched from the stands as Harry Potter brought back his corpse. One-shot. Written in response to ChoCedric's challenge.


Cho awoke early on the morning of the third task, She sat up, went to her dressing table and brushed her hair, as she did every morning. She changed her undergarments and pulled on her school robes before heading down to breakfast, just as she usually did. Her other dormmates were still sleeping as she left, and Cho couldn't blame them. Ravenclaw house had it's fair share of early risers, but there were no classes today, and unless you were directly participating in the Triwizard Tournament - and none of them were - there was no real reason to get out of bed at the crack of dawn.

Cho however, could not have slept late even if she'd wanted to - she was far too excited. Her boyfriend of nearly six months, Cedric Diggory, would be competing in the final task of the tournament today. The _final_ task. She was worried about him and nervous for him, but the thought of him finishing the tournament, especially if he could do so in first place as he'd been aspiring to do, was both thrilling and relieving. She couldn't wait for it to be over.

She rushed down the spiral staircase leading out of Ravenclaw Tower and navigated as quickly and carefully as she could down the moving staircases on the subsequent floors. Cedric must have been awake already. She hoped he'd been able to sleep last night, he'd seemed so stressed when she'd seen him right before they went their separate ways to bed.

As she entered the Great Hall, she noticed immediately how few students had arrived yet. Viktor Krum was seated at the Slytherin table alone, most likely to try and get some time to himself before the task without being hassled by his many fangirls. Despite how very obvious it was to Cho that Krum had no interest in these girls whatsoever, said girls apparently did not get the same message, and never left him alone. But he didn't look any happier at the moment without them there. His expression was still brooding, though this was most likely just a mask for his own worries.

Fleur Delacour was nowhere in sight yet. There were about half a dozen Hogwarts students and a Beauxbatons boy sprinkled around the hall, and...there! Cedric was perched on the edge of the bench at the Hufflepuff table, one hand supporting his head and the other beside his toast. As the High Table was, as yet, only attended by Professors Karkaroff, Sprout and McGonagall, Cho decided that with the Great Hall as empty as it was, nobody would mind if she sat next to Cedric through breakfast. She hurried over to him.

'Good morning Cedric.' She said warmly, an encouraging smile touching her face as she sat down beside him. He looked sideways at her and returned her smile as best he could. Cho loved this about him. No matter how under pressure he was, he would always try to smile for her, even if he couldn't feel it himself. She kissed him on the cheek, and the smile on his face immediately became much more genuinely cheerful.

'Good morning Cho.' He returned.

'How are you feeling?' She asked, knowing that they were alone enough that he would answer her honestly.

'Like my entire body is made of lead.' He replied. Cho said nothing in return, and just waited for him to continue at his own pace. 'I just wonder if I can even do this.' He sighed, rubbing his forehead.

'Hey,' she soothed, and rubbed his shoulder. 'Of course you can. You've got the best chance out of anyone. Just think, in a few hours time it'll all be over, and you might even be taking home the cup to your parents.' He smiled again at her, but somwhat painfully at the last part.

'You know, I want to do this, I really do. But some part of me isn't sure I actually want to win.' He said, staring off into the distance. Cho cocked her head to the side, wondering what was the matter.

'Why not?' She queried. He didn't say anything immediately.

'You know that my parents are coming to Hogwarts to see me compete today?' He asked, and she nodded. 'Well my father's a very...that is, he's great, and he's really proud of me, but... I feel like he's always just expecting that I'll naturally come out on top. Like when I beat Potter to the snitch last year.' Cho nodded again, remembering that terrifying match when Harry Potter had suddenly and inexplicably fallen out of the sky at the crucial moment. She had of course, been watching every second of the match from the stands. Though she agreed that Cedric had nonetheless won the match fairly, she knew the bitterweet taste it would have left in his mouth. He had gained a victory over the 'Seeker Prodigy' Harry Potter at last, but only because events had turned out of their control. Cedric was a very competitive boy. He liked to win, but he liked to win when he knew he deserved it. He didn't feel like he'd earned that victory over Gryffindor, and had it been in his power at the time, he would have declared a rematch to keep it fair.

This, in Cho's eyes, was Cedric's finest quality. Not his incredible flying skills, his cool head in the face of danger or his natural charisma around people, but his inherent belief in honour and fair play. It was this feature, more than anything else about him that had first attracted Cho to Cedric. She had many of the same beliefs and standards herself, but she had always admired the way in which Cedric upheld those values so firmly himself, and his disappointment in his victory over Harry was one of the first instances of this that really hit home with Cho.

'It didn't matter to him how I won,' Cedric continued. 'the point to him was that I'd beaten 'The Great Harry Potter'. You should have seen the way he rubbed it in Harry's face when he first met him.' He looked appalled just thinking about it. 'It was pretty embrassing, and made me look like a right prat, I can tell you. But that's just it you know, he expects that his son is 'the best'. He'll be so proud if I win this task today, but then he'll just always be expecting the same level or higher of great things from me. I don't want him to think of me as 'Cedric the high achiever', just Cedric the son.' He paused for a moment. 'I wonder if he'd still talk about me so much if I wasn't...well, like this.' He finished, shrugging at himself.

'Are you worried your father wouldn't be proud of you without all these things you've done?' Cho asked him incredulously. He just sighed and took another bite out of his toast, saying nothing, 'I'm sure that's not true Cedric. It sounds like he can go over the top with being a boastful father, but there are far worse things a father can be. I think he honestly loves you very much, whether you've got all or nothing.' She said it in all honesty. He smiled at her again, and she knew he'd taken comfort in her words. He didn't have to ask her 'Do you really think so?' because he didn't need any further encouragement, he already knew she really did. 'Anyway,' she added 'you said yourself that you really want to do this. Do it for you, not for him.' There was a pause in which Cedric took in everything she'd just said, and though her words alone obviously wouldn't solve his insecurities about his father, she certainly helped him feel a little lighter about them.

'You're an amazing girl, Cho.' Cedric said, and without warning leaned over and gave her a quick kiss on her lips. Cho immediately went red, as she often did when Cedric did something to make her heart race. He was so good at it too - even the smallest gesture meant just for her could melt her on the spot. She smiled sheepishly.

'No.' She denied softly. 'I'm just really lucky to have someone like you.' With this she gave his hand a little squeeze under the table, and stood to go. The tables were beginning to fill as more students entered the Great Hall, and she'd be getting in the way shortly. 'I'll see you again before the task then?' She asked. and he nodded. 'Definately.' Cho smiled, and went over to sit down at Ravenclaw table to start her own breakfast.

Some hours later saw Cho and Cedric stealing a quiet moment at the edge of the Black Lake before it was time for him to go. This seemed like a good place to come back to, because it was thanks to the second task, performed right here at the lake that had really brought Cho and Cedric together.

At the beginning of the year, Cho's sympathies had gone largely with Harry Potter. She couldn't honestly believe that he'd put his own name into the Goblet of Fire, and putting herself into his shoes could barely even imagine what it was like having to step up and face these challenges when he was underage, inexperienced and had no idea what he was up against. Admittedly, Cedric, Fleur and Krum hadn't known exactly what they were up against either, but at least they'd willingly chosen to enter this contest and face the unknown. Despite all the horrible things Rita Skeeter wrote about Harry, words like'glory hound' and 'attention seeking' simply had no place on the boy's face when his name had been called from that cup. He'd walked through the Great Hall like he was on death row, his eyes as shocked and bewildered as though the very floor had just been ripped out from under him, leaving him no solidarity to stand on whatsoever. Watching him walk to his doom like that, Cho had found herself very much on his side, and throughout the first task had most definately been cheering for Harry.

Despite the stacked odds against him, Harry had pulled through that first task, and Cho had admired his tenacity and nerve. The other champions had seemed further away from her, like older people in a whole other league, who were perfectly capable of whatever this tournament threw at them. Harry however, likely knew less magic than she did, and in an inexplicable way she felt closer to him as he battled his way through bad press and fallouts with his friends, not to mention the damned dragon.

So when the Yule Ball came up, Cho had nervously considered asking Harry if he would go with her. She had never dated anyone herself before, so after hearing about a very blunt rejection Harry had given a younger Ravenclaw girl, she found herself a bit afraid to do it. She kept hoping that he might ask her anyway - he had seemed to like her at their Quidditch match last year - but as the Yule Ball approached and Harry didn't, Cho felt like it was a lost cause.

Then Cedric had asked her, out of the blue when she had been on her way out of the broomshed from practice. It had taken her completely by surprise, for although she had known that Cedric was a friendly sort of person and had occasionally talked to her before and after Quidditch matches, she'd not realised he was actually interested in her. She'd never even considered him before that moment. She'd still hesitated, but after thinking that if Harry hadn't asked her by now then he'd probably already asked someone else, she'd accepted Cedric's offer.

Not two days later Harry Potter had come and finally asked her to go with him. Cho had been extremely disappointed in having to turn him down, but it'd be downright indecent of her to turn around say no to Cedric just because someone else asked her. But that didn't change that she felt horribly guilty for having had to reject Harry like that.

However, all these thoughts seemed to have been swept away from her the night of the Yule Ball. Cedric had shown her a wonderful night and had been the perfect gentleman to her. She'd gotten lost in the magic of the dance floor and the way Cedric's beautiful grey eyes looked at nothing but her. Not hungrily or suggestively, just appreciatively. He'd gone at her pace, and Cho learned quickly that there was much more to the Hogwarts Champion than everyone supposed. Just before parting ways at the end of the night Cedric had kissed her hand, and asked her if he could see her again. Cho had agreed readily, wanting to know more about these feelings she was developing for the Hufflepuff Champion.

They had soon become arguably the most popular couple at Hogwarts, followed closely by Roger Davies and Fleur Delacour. But any looker-on could have seen the vast difference in the dynamics between these two budding relationships. Roger was completely succumbed to the all-consuming radiance of Fleur, who seemed to do more indulging than any kind of real affection. Cho and Cedric however, were endearing, as you watched them grow to care for each other in smaller ways - holding hands in the corridors, walking each other to classes, laughing together and eating at the same table when they could get away with it. It was also somewhat sweeter as they weren't the type to snog constantly and shamelessly in the school halls. In fact, unbeknownst to most, Cho and Cedric hadn't even shared a kiss yet.

When the second task rolled around however, things changed between them a little. Cho would never forget being taken aside by Professor Flitwick and told that she was to be Cedric's 'Treasure' for the following day's task. It opened her eyes substantially when she listened to the clue. _We've taken what you'll sorely miss'_

What you'll sorely miss... and that wasn't Cedric's best friend, or his father or mother, it was her. She'd barely had time to think about it before she had been put under her enchanted sleep. When she awoke at the surface of the lake more than twelve hours later, she still had that one line ringing through her head. She'd coughed and spluttered as Cedric had dragged her body to shore, where Madame Pomfrey had promptly covered them with towels and drying charms and sat them down. She fussed over them until she heard that Krum was now surfacing with Hermione Granger and rushed over to give them the same treatment. Given this small window of time with all the student's and faculty's eyes on the water, Cedric, still wet and trembling and looking slightly wretched from his exertion leaned over towards Cho.

'Are you alright?' He'd asked her shakily. 'I'm so sorry you got dragged into this, if I'd had a choice-'

'Is it true?' Cho cut across him, somehow desperately needing to know. _'We've taken what you'll sorely miss_. Is that really true?' And he'd looked searchingly into her face, and spoken honestly.

'I love you Cho.'

She'd been floored. She'd felt her feelings for him swell up until she'd felt she could burst from happiness. Someone _loved _her. Someone beautiful and amazing and true in every sense of the word. She could feel her heartbeat through every part of her body, blazing like lightning. In that moment, staring into those warm grey eyes, she knew she'd fallen in love with him too. Neither of them checked to see if they were being watched, just carefully held each other's gazes like the most important thing in the world was to never break the contact between them. They were closer together than she'd realised, so close she could almost feel his breathing, and still they were moving closer to one another, neither one breaking away or hesitating. As one they came together and their lips met, chaste and lingering - Cho Chang's first kiss, and perhaps the most beautiful thing she had felt in all her life.

So now they were back here by the lake, not so far off from that same place, just seated comfortably in each other's embrace. Cho was far more nervous than perhaps she had any right to be. After all, it was not she herself competing, but somehow she was still jittery and excited for him. They started off trying to talk about casual things and alleviate the tension they were both feeling.

'You'll come over and meet my parents once the tournamnet's over won't you Cho? They'll love you.'

'Of course I will. I'd love to meet your parents.' She snuggled into his neck a little. 'Are so sure they're going to like me though?' She asked with a trace of doubt.

'Quidditch Seeker with a mind like a diamond? What's not to like?' He reassured her, and she smiled into his collar.

'So, Mr Triwizard Champion,' Cho intoned in a mock-announcer's voice. 'now that you've won the Triwizard tournament, what are you going to spend your spectacular winnings on?' Cedric giggled as Cho made one hand into a fist and put it up to Cedric's mouth like a microphone. He 'hmmmed' to himself and stroked his chin theatrically for a moment, then looked down at her.

'How about I buy us both Firebolts?' He suggested. Cho laughed.

'That's a fine idea, but I could never accept such an expensive gift from you, so you'll just have to buy one for yourself.'

Then the look in Cedric's eyes suddenly went from laughing to soft.

'Then how about this for a gift?' He asked, and pulled out of the inside pocket of his robes a perfect, midnight blue rose. It's petals were velvety, beautifully shaped and open in full bloom. Cho scarcely dared to touch it for fear she would somehow ruin it's perfection if she did. It had clearly been cultured by an expert, and Cho could only imagine the work that had gone into making it as beautiful as it was to behold. She just stared at it in wonder for the longest time, wondering how on earth Cedric had managed to produce a flower like that, and what she had done to deserve someone who did such wonderful things for her. Cedric was smiling at her reaction, and ended up physically picking up her hand and placing the rose into her open palm, before closing it around the flower himself. 'And as for the Triwizard winnings,' He continued in a low and husky voice that was almost a whisper in her ear, 'I was thinking of buying myself an apartment above Diagon Alley. A place where we both could stay and spend at least part of the Summer together, waiting it out until you graduate.'

Cho looked up at him, rendered speechless for the second time in less than a minute. Her eyes actually filled with tears at that point she was so happy.

'Cedric!' she cried, putting her arms around him as tight as she dared without crushing the beautiful gift he'd just given her. 'I know everything we've always said, that we loved each other, but I was never sure if you wanted us to stay together after graduation.' He put his arms around her in turn, squeezing her tight and stroking her hair.

'Of course I do. How could I do anything else? I love you too much Cho.'

'I love you too Cedric. I'd love to come and stay with you over the Summer'

And Cho held onto him like she'd never let go. She'd never felt so warm and happy in her life - the thought of spending as much time as possible with Cedric in a place they could call their own...it was too much to ask for. She herself lived only a few streets away from Diagon Alley - it'd be so easy to steal at least an hour or two a day, whenever she could get away from her parents. Cedric was the most wonderful thing that had ever happened to her, and she had been so dreading the thought of him telling her that once the year was out they'd have to break it off. It was like walking in a dream, or flying through mist, she felt so light.

As they pulled apart, Cedric turned his attention back to the rose.

'Professor Sprout helped me grow this in her own personal greenhouse. It's been enchanted too, just leave it in water and it won't die, not for months. Maybe we can put it in our new apartment together if I win today.' Cho beamed, her hands still firmly but gently clasped around the stem.

'Absolutely. Thank you Cedric, for so much.'

About ten minutes later, Cedric checked his watch.

'It's almost time.' He said, and they both reluctantly got to their feet. Together they walked back towards the castle hand in hand and feeling stronger and closer to each other than they ever had before. As they walked through the halls, Cedric became visibly more nervous, and Cho rubbed his hand with her thumb to try and calm them both down. She didn't mind if he won or not, even if he didn't they'd agreed to stay together and see each other when they could once Cedric graduated. Still it was a rough tournament, and there was a good chance he could get hurt in it. Fleur had been attacked by Grindylows in the second task, and both Harry and Viktor had had near misses in the first. She dearly hoped that he'd be fine, and take home the Triwizard Cup like she knew he could.

As they approached the Quidditch pitch there was a muffled sound of a large and excited crowd gathering on the other side of the double doors, and the inevitable air of a great build up infected them even from inside. They paused here. This was where they had to part. Cho would go into the stands, and Cedric would take be taken aside with the other champions for their briefing and preparation. She would see him on the pitch. Still holding hands, they turned to face each other. He looked pale, but as usual had on a brave face, and part of him looked excited to finally be doing this final task as well.

'You'll do just fine out there, we both know you will.' She assured. 'I'll be cheering for you the whole time, I know you can do it. Just remember, this is for you and you only. '

'No' Cedric said, shaking head. 'It's not only for me. If I can win, it'll be for us.' Without another word, they were in each other's arms, kissing passionately, entwined in body and heart. When it was over, they lingered a moment longer, smiling at each other. Cedric gave her hand a quick squeeze.

'I'll see you soon.' He said, and he let her go and turned to leave. Cho watched him until he disappeared through the side door for his briefing, then turning on her heel she headed up to the Quidditch stands.

It didn't take Cho a long time of searching through the stands before she was waved over by her Ravenclaw friends. Making her way over to her posse, she sat down between Marietta Edgecombe and Su Li, still clutching the rose in her left hand. Su Li noticed it immediately.

'Wow, did Cedric give you that?' She gushed. 'You're so lucky Cho.' And Cho could help but blush in pleasure.

'Yeah, I am.' She agreed, feeling at that moment that she was the luckiest girl on Earth. Su and Marietta both fussed over and admired her rose for a minute or so, but presently announcer Ludo Bagman's voice calling for the crowds to hush made them all focus on the pitch. Cho was positively glowing when she heard the sounds of her entire school cheering Cedric Diggory on. She cheered for him loudly as well, but didn't clap so as not to damage Cedric's gift.

Cedric briefly scanned the stands, and Cho held up his rose so he could spot her. He didn't wave, but he grinned at her, beautifully and confidently. She was so proud of him, facing what he was today. She tried to put all the pride and confidence and feeling she had into the smile she beamed back at him, and she thought he got it. Once again Cho had a brief image of a golden sunlit apartment above Diagon Alley, she and Cedric breakfasting together at the same table instead of across the hall from each other, with a single blue moon rose resting in a vase on the table...

BANG! The sound of the starting gun went, snapping Cho out of her reverie as she watched Cedric and Harry disappear into the maze. Now came the waiting. This was the hard part, as she was quickly learning. She had been underwater for the second task, and so didn't get the chance to worry about whether or not Cedric was hurt. But now she was very much awake, and couldn't see a thing anyway. The maze was just too high, so the spectators couldn't really see anything, but not a one person in the crowds was not on the edge of their seats with excitement nonetheless. She watched as Viktor Krum and finally Fleur Delacour also entered the seemingly endless maze, and not a whisper had been heard from Harry or Cedric. The crowd got rather tense and silent once all the champions were inside, and the atmosphere thick, heavy, just waiting for something to happen. There was quite a moment a little while later when red sparks were seen flying up from somewhere in the centre of the maze. The faculty rushed in for a rescue at once, and Cho couldn't help but gasp in momentary panic. Marietta picked up on it quickly and sought to calm her.

'Don't worry Cho, it's probably not him, he's fine. He's in first place remember? He's probably further along than that by now.' Still Cho sat coiled and ready to spring from her seat at any second, tormenting herself over whether or not someone had gotten hurt and dropped out. Part of her worried for Harry as well as Cedric, but she didn't want anyone ending up in the hospital wing over this. Ten agonising minutes later Professor Sprout, Professor Snape and Professor McGonagall returned from the maze with a magical stretcher floating behind Professor McGonagall. Cho leaned forward to see who it was, and saw a female body. She immediately sighed in relief, then felt guilty for being relieved when she had no idea whether Fleur was okay or not. After a few moments discussion with Bagman however, the announcer quickly assured the crowds that Miss Delacour's condition was stable, although she was now out of the running for the Triwizard Cup. Madame Maxime was beside herself, and rushed after Fleur's stretcher into the castle, followed closely by Fleur's parents and Gabrielle. The crowd was certainly expecting exciting things from this final task, and Cho was starting to wish she had been competing instead of having to wait in the stands, not even being able to see what was going on.

It was approaching dusk when it finally happened, that moment which Cho would remember for all her days. There was a flash of light and a thud, and suddenly there were two people lying at the entrance to the maze. Harry Potter was holding the Triwiard Cup in one hand, and Cedric's arm in the other. For one tiny split second Cho felt the greatest relief wash over her: both Hogwarts Champions had made it back together, she was going to spend her Summer with Cedric, flying and growing flowers and dancing together and holding each other in a place that was all their own.

In the next moment, she felt her entire insides turn to stone. No. No. It was impossible. Harry was moving, crying, but Cedric lay absolutely still, eyes open and glassed over. She knew every expression his warm, grey eyes could make, but this was something she had never seen before, never wanted to see. Those eyes that looked at her in mischief and in laughter and in love now looked at nothing at all. Somewhere at the back of her mind she registered the fanfare crowds cheering, but those awful sounds may as well have been completely silent out there to her. No...

She screamed.

In the seconds after Cho began screaming people realised there was something terribly, horrifically wrong with the scene below, and the uproar quickly drowned Cho out, but she did not, could not stop screaming. She was even deaf to her own ears. She heard nothing, saw nothing but those awful, lifeless eyes. Harry was weeping over Cedric's body, wouldn't let anyone touch him. Cho wanted to run down there herself, tell him he had to be wrong, Cedric couldn't be dead, she would prove it. She barely felt it when she practically launched herself out of her seat ready to jump off the edge of the Quidditch stands to get to Cedric if she had to. She did feel the two pairs of arms that grabbed at her own, two female voices shrieking at her, begging her to stop, come back. Mindlessly she fought the arms that were stopping her from getting to him, and in her fierce desperation had just about clawed free of her friends when another pair of much stronger arms wrapped around her from behind, pinning her arms to her sides. She didn't know who it was and she didn't care. She struggled, she kicked, she pushed and scratched and bit with all her might, but the arms did not let her go.

'Cho! Cho! Stop it please! He's gone, there's nothing you can do. He's gone.' Came the anguished voice from behind her.

Somehow through all her screams she heard this, and then even worse, someone else's awful wails carried into the stands from the pitch.

'That's my son! My boy! Cedric! Cedric! NO!' And knowing that Cho had been right about Mr Diggory didn't help at all.

_He's gone... he's gone... _Oh Merlin...

Cho slumped down, now silent. Her entire body had just given out all at once. The arms which had held her back from jumping off the stands now gently guided her to the ground. Only her badly shaking arms kept her head from collapsing onto the ground too, but she felt completely numb. Reality was gone, her mind had shut down, for how could she possibly accept what her eyes told her was reality?

Dimly at the back of her mind she heard Madam Hooch's voice saying very, very, gently, 'Davies? Can you carry her? She needs to be away from this. Take her back to the dorms.' She heard nothing in return, but presently the two arms returned, one under her legs and one behind her back, wordlessly lifting her off the ground. She could feel the plodding of Roger's footfalls, and allowed herself to feel nothing else. Just the steady, rythmnic footsteps and two strong, gentle arms picking her up and carrying her away from it all. Cho felt like a child again, regressed back to that simplicity where being held by someone strong and safe was all you needed in the world. Right now, it was the only thing she had in the world.

She didn't know how long it took to get back to the dorms. Cho's head was bowed and resting on Roger's chest, and she made no effort at all to see what was going on around her. She thought she heard other footsteps around Roger, but nobody said anything. At length however, that blessed detachment sank away when Roger finally got into the Ravenclaw common room, up into Cho's dormroom and gently laid her down on her own bed. Her state must have attracted a fair few onlookers, because she heard Marietta telling people Cho couldn't see to 'get out and leave her alone!' Cho was, in a way, grateful for this. But with the warm arms, the connection to another human being taken away, Cho felt her numbness ebb away as well, and she remembered the reason she had needed to be carried to her own bed in the first place. Cedric was gone. There was a huge, gaping empty space inside her. Only hours ago she had felt whole, warm, loved. All of that had been ripped away from her, and the remaining emptiness was absolute agony. The next thing she knew, a dam broke somewhere inside her and her sobs suddenly came in an onslaught. They wracked through her so hard it was painful, she could hardly breathe. She was gasping just for enough breath to stay in her body to keep her sobbing, she couldn't hope for anything more, didn't want anything more. Stay and cry. She didn't ever want to get up and be forced to face the world again, now that he was no longer in it.

_You'll do fine..._

_I'll see you soon..._

_No..._

_I won't be seeing you soon. I won't be seeing you ever again. I'll never, ever hear that voice again, that voice that told me_ '_see you soon.' _

It was so hard to breathe, she barely knew who she was just then, and couldn't care who was watching her. All she knew was that it hurt. It hurt and she couldn't stop it hurting. Couldn't ever stop it hurting. She felt Marietta's and Roger's hands rubbing her back as she sobbed her heart out into the pillow. They didn't leave, and they didn't say a word. Perhaps they both knew enough to know there was absolutely nothing they _could _say.

After what seemed like an eternity in which Cho felt as though she'd never been anywhere except here, never felt anything except this all-consuming pain, Marietta stopped rubbing her back.

'Professor! ' Cho heard her say in a voice that was so shaken that Cho realised she'd been crying too.

'Oh, Merlin...' Came the sombre voice of Professor Flitwick. There was none of the usual cheer in his tone, just a heartbreaking sadness at what he was witnessing. 'Oh, Cho. I'm so sorry...' And somehow Cho could feel how sincere his words were, and it only made her cry harder to feel anything. Her Head of House also touched a hand to her back, but with his other hand her offered her a glass of water. Her throat was so raw and her eyes so dry that she should have cried herself out by now, but somehow just couldn't stop. She accepted the water, and somehow took sips of it in between her still-harsh sobs. Flitwick immediately sent Marietta to the hospital wing to get a Sleeping Draught.

By the time Marietta got back, Cho's entire body was aching from the exhaustion of having cried so hard for so long. Flitwick was very gentle in talking to her.

'Okay Cho, just lift your head a bit and drink this. You'll sleep for a long time without any dreams.' And seeing the broken look in her eyes when she raised her head to him, begging him to be telling the truth about it he added, 'I promise.'

Fresh tears coursed down her cheeks at these words, but they were quiet ones, and she let Professor Flitwick put the vial to her lips, and even before she had finished drinking the world spun away from her into blissful oblivion, at least for a little while.

Many, many hours later, Cho awoke in her bed. Her deep blue velvet hangings shielded her from seeing the rest of the dorm, and she used her right hand to partially open one of the hangings. The sun was a deep gold in the sky - it was late afternoon and the dorm was empty. Why hadn't any of her friends woken her? Didn't she have classes? As she was wondering why she realised that her left hand was hurting - and quite badly too. She looked down at it for the cause, and realised she'd had her hand wrapped tightly around the rose last night. The one Cedric had given her. That's right. The rose. The tournament. Cedric! And then she remembered all over again, and the dreadful, rushing agony came back, but not as desperately as before. This was why she'd been left alone.

'Cedric...' She all but whispered down at the rose, which blended perfectly with her midnight blue bedspread. At this point she looked up to blink away the tears that threatened, and saw that there was a glass of water waiting for her on the nightstand beside her bed.

_'Just leave it in water and it won't die...' _

She felt herself begin to weep again, and she drew in a shuddering breath. If only those tears could just stop him from dying that simply. She slowly and painfully unwrapped her hand from the stem of the rose, gasping a little as the thorns withdrew from her flesh. _Amazing what the body stops noticing when the heart is in pain_, she thought. She was about to put the bloody-stemmed rose into the glass of water when she noticed a tiny tag attatched to it. She'd unflincingly held that rose from the moment Cedric had given it to her by the lake yesterday, and the tag had been wrapped up in her palm, so she never saw it. It was spotted and smeared in blood now, but Cho could still just make out the message in Cedric's handwriting.

Later, she remembered reading that one, small message over and over again, hardly knowing how to let it sink in. She'd put the rose into the glass of water after removing the tag in a trance, then held the tiny piece of paper close to her heart. She'd cried long, constant, bittersweet tears at the irony of Cedric's last words to her, and knew that her tears would not stop for a long time to come.

_To the one I'll sorely miss..._


End file.
